The History of Robots

The definition of “robot” has been confusing from the very beginning. The word first appeared in 1921,
in Karel Capek’s play R.U.R., or Rossum's Universal Robots. “Robot” comes from the Czech for “forced
labor.” These robots were robots more in spirit than form, though. They looked like humans, and instead
of being made of metal, they were made of chemical batter. The robots were far more efficient than
their human counterparts, and also way more murder-y—they ended up going on a killing spree.

R.U.R. would establish the trope of the Not-to-Be-Trusted Machine (e.g., Terminator, The Stepford Wives,
Blade Runner, etc.) that continues to this day—which is not to say pop culture hasn’t embraced friendlier
robots. Think Rosie from The Jetsons. (Ornery, sure, but certainly not homicidal.) And it doesn’t get much
family-friendlier than Robin Williams as Bicentennial Man.

The real-world definition of “robot” is just as slippery as those fictional depictions. Ask 10 roboticists and
you’ll get 10 answers. But they do agree on some general guidelines: A robot is an intelligent, physically
embodied machine. A robot can perform tasks autonomously. And a robot can sense and manipulate its
environment.

Robots are typically designed as automated machines that can take the place of humans. Most robotic
machines can be seen in manufacturing lines, such as widely used in the auto industry. Robots are also
utilized to replace humans in dangerous situations. One example would be to send an automated
machine into a burning building to hunt for survivors when it may too dangerous to send in firefighters.
Another example would be the utilization of a robot by SWAT to search a crime scene for dangerous
persons or explosives.

The term robotics is derived from the word robot, which was first introduced by Czech writer Karel Capek
in his 1920 play R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots). The word robot comes from the Slavic word robota,
which means labor. In Capek’s play, it begins in a factory where artificial robotic people (similar to the
modern idea of androids) are being built. Capek maintained that the word robot was not of his own
origin, noting it actually came from his brother Josef. He explained this in a short letter in reference to an
etymology in the Oxford English Dictionary.

According to that dictionary, the word robotics was first used in print by Isaac Asimov in his short story
“Liar!,” published in May 1941 in Astounding Science Fiction. Asimov was unaware that he was coining
the term, believing that robotics was already referred to as the science and technology of robots. Asimov
later wrote that the word robotics was first used in another of his short stories, “Runaround,” published
in 1942 in Astounding Science Fiction. However, Oxford English Dictionary referred to “Liar!” as the
origination of the term as it was published five months before “Runaround.”